Dental Implants

Your teeth are important—they affect your speech, your bite and your confidence. Missing teeth is a problem. Besides the problem you can see, there are problems from missing teeth that you may not see. A missing tooth immediately starts to affect the jaw bone, without the stimulation of your tooth the bone actually begins to shrink. The surrounding teeth begin to shift. These changes will cause your mouth, and subsequently your face, to look older. Dental implants are a permanent option for replacing missing teeth.

What are dental implants?

A dental implant is a titanium fixture that is implanted in the jaw. It can replace a single tooth or it can be a support for a bridge or a denture. With dental implants, the gradual deterioration that takes place in your jawbone from missing teeth is slowed or eliminated.

Using a biocompatible titanium screw, we create a strong root attached to the jaw bone, giving you the look, feel and strength of your natural tooth. This option allows a missing tooth to be replaced without altering or trimming down neighboring teeth that would serve as anchors for a bridge, or without relying on neighboring teeth that are not strong enough to support a bridge. Once dental implants are placed, the gradual deterioration that takes place in your jawbone where teeth are missing is slowed or eliminated.

What is the process for installing dental implants?Dental implants become more then an implant, it becomes part of you. We use biocompatible titanium screws which Dr. Radakovich places into your jaw bone and with a healing time of about 3 – 6 months a process called osseointegration occurs. Osseoinegration means that this is now permanent. The implant is then uncovered from its temporary cap and Dr. Radakovich places a crown onto the implant. You now have a strong, durable tooth that looks, feels and acts like a natural tooth. We have seen great success with dental implants.

Am I a candidate for dental implants?Anyone in reasonable health and missing one or more teeth may be a candidate for a dental implant. At your information appointment, we will discuss any health concerns along with examine your bone structure and review radiographs. Most of our patients are potential candidates for dental implants.

What is the success rate of dental implants?Dental Implants have been very successful. Our patients have been thrilled with the results of looking and feeling better. Most studies show success rates over 90%. Dental Implants off many advantages over conventional methods. Because they are strong and permanent, they are both functional and aesthetic.

Does dental implant surgery hurt?Placing Dental Implants is a surgical procedure. Surgical procedures do have their discomforts, but most patients have described the pain as being less painful than having a tooth extracted. We perform this procedure with either local anesthetic or intravenous sedation. Dr. Radakovich will discuss your options with you.

During the 3-6 months after the Implant is placed, will I go without teeth?Dr. Radakovich will discuss temporary cap placement with you. In most instances, temporary teeth can be worn during the healing period.

Bone Grafting

How do missing teeth cause bone loss?Missing teeth affects your entire mouth. One of the long term problems is the atrophy of the bone in the jaw. The bone will actually begin to reabsorb in that spot because it is no longer being stimulated from the motion and pressure of your tooth. This gives people an older appearance.

At Dr. Radakovich's office in Portland, OR, we can help stop this problem. With the dental implant procedure, we are able to continue to stimulate your jawbone, immediately slowing and/or stopping the degrading process. Sometimes our patients have already experienced too much bone loss, and this is when we recommend a process called Bone Grafting.

What is bone grafting?Dentistry is advancing, Bone Grafting is the process of growing bone where it is needed. Growing bone allows us to place implants and restore function to your bite. Bone has an extraordinary ability to regenerate. By harvesting bone from your body, generally the chin, we are able to place it and it will regenerate within a few months time.